How to Grow Your Email List in 2025

Email marketing is essential for selling your online course or digital product on repeat (hello, funnels, you wonderful things, you!), but it’s also one of the most misunderstood forms of marketing.

Business owners either make the mistake of sending as many emails as possible urging their audience to “join now” in the hope they get opened and that people actually purchase (8hrs to go, 5hrs to go, 3hrs to go, 1hr to go…. 😴  <— hint, that’s NOT the answer) or not sending any emails at all because they don’t want to “bother” their list (ummm, if you didn’t build an email list to sell, then why do you have one?!)

Psst: Neither of these strategies is a good one. 😉

In this post, I’ll dive into the nitty gritty details on why email list building is essential for reaching an audience at scale and how to set up your own email marketing strategy to build a large, loyal audience of buyers over time without feeling spammy or annoying (hooray!).

How start growing your email list

If you haven’t done so already, I recommend using ConvertKit for building your email list. It’s a platform that allows you to create simple, effective landing pages and send emails at scale with just the click of just a few buttons (and a little bit of savvy copywriting, of course!).

Incentivise sign ups with a magnetic lead magnet

Simply saying “Subscribe to my email list” is not going to make anyone subscribe to your email list. I mean, when is the last time you just gave away your email without any real reason to do so?

If you want to grow your list, you need to incentivise people to sign up. You can do this through a magnetic lead magnet. This should be relevant to the offer you ultimately want to sell and the client or student you want to attract.

For example, if you have a course that teaches small business owners how to more efficiently manage their tasks with software like Trello or Asana, you might offer a simple guide for setting up your first Trello board or a beginner’s guide to Asana as a lead magnet.

If you have a web design course, you might offer a 20-minute workshop on the 4 essential elements a client-converting website must have.

5 Types of Lead Magnets to Grow Your Email List

Once you have an idea of the topic that will capture your ideal client or students’ attention, you need to consider the format.

E-Book or Guide

This is one of the most popular lead magnets because it’s like giving away a little book that has everything they need. Just make sure you’re offering something that your audience will find helpful in their business or personal lives, such as an actionable guide, a checklist, or even a list of resources for them to use.

Webinar

A webinar is when people can watch you present on a topic via live streaming video in real time or watch the replay back in their own time. They can also ask questions during the presentation through an online chat window if needed — this can be great for generating leads and conversions! You’ll want to create an engaging webinar that focuses on the challenges people face with the topic at hand while also providing solutions based off of your expertise. And, at the end, you can make the most of having your ideal client or students’ attention by inviting them to join your paid offer.

Challenge

The content is similar to a webinar but is generally spread out over 3-5 days. Your challenge can be live and in real time with a Facebook Group, or simply be delivered via an automated email sequence over a few days. Each day, you’ll want to share a valuable tip with your audience, and generally something they can implement right away to get a quick win.

Case Studies

Case studies are great for positioning you as an expert. If you have gotten amazing results for a few clients, you can tell these stories and bundle them up into one case study. The attractive thing about a case study file is that they usually dive deep into one tangible aspect of the client story (not everything!) and share practical tips and takeaways so that someone can begin to implement and realise they might need your help with the process.

Template

Templates are great if you teach systems, design, copywriting, or anything else that has swipeable elements. As a copywriter, I use templates as lead magnets in my own business. In fact, my free Welcome Email Sequence Template is one of my most-downloaded templates.

Psst: If you want to grow your email list with ready-to-buy subscribers, swipe my Email List-Building Cheatsheet.

It outlines 8 of the most download-worthy lead magnets (with examples and name ideas!) that you can swipe and use to grow your email list with dream clients today!

Yes, I want the email list-building checklist! >>

Nurture subscribers with an email sequence

Once your subscribers have joined your list, you’ll want to nurture them!

8 Types of Emails to Nurture Your Subscribers

• Welcome Email: Swipe my free Welcome Email Sequence Template here >>
• Product or Service Preview: Show a BTS look at your digital product or how your service works
• Tell Your Origin Story: How did you get started in the business world? What prompted you to start your business? Was it an accident or intentional?
• Educational Content: Bust a myth about what you do (most people believe THIS, but here’s what you should believe instead)
• Social Proof – Share success stories from clients or students you’ve helped
• Engagement Emails: Share your unique process (what makes what you do better than what your competitor does?), invite questions and answer common questions
• Empathy Email: Share something you’ve sacrificed to serve your audience (this could be a job you gave up, an offer you got rid of so you could go all in on another, etc)
• Confession Email: Share something you’re afraid of or nervous about and invite your subscribers to reply with their own story (this will build connection with your audience)

If you want a nurture sequence to warm up your new subscribers, you can grab my FREE Welcome Email Sequence Template. Write and schedule your first welcome email in less than 15 minutes, so you can nurture new subscribers to your list!

Is a course or digital product launch on your horizon? grab my Step-by-Step Course Launch Roadmap. It includes a day-by-day breakdown of the messages I recommend you send throughout your launch, from the pre-launch period all the way to the down-sell period.

That’s it! You can start building an email list by following this step-by-step process. This will ultimately help you reach a new audience for your offers. Using these strategies will improve your sales and allow you to reach more people with your message, which is a win-win in my opinion!

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What tips stood out to you? Comment and let me know!